Category: Taping Recap

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Taping recap: Flor de Toloache

Flor de Toloache performs on Austin City Limits, Aug. 29, 2023. Photo by Scott Newton.

When Adrian Quesada brought his Boleros Psicodélicos project to the Austin City Limits stage last year in our Season 48, one of his featured guests was singer and violinist Mireya Ramos, who brought the house down with an impassioned performance of the Latin love song “Tus Tormentas.” With her musical partner Shae Fiol, Ramos leads the Latin Grammy-winning and Grammy-nominated New York mariachi group Flor de Toloache, and it became clear after her appearance with Quesada that an invitation to the band to tape their own show was inevitable. We were thrilled to have the five-piece combo join us in support of their latest recording Motherflower. 

Eschewing the traditional mariachi outfits for clothes more glittery, Mona Seda (trumpet), Claudia Rascon (guitar), and Vaneza Calderon (guitarron)  strummed a slow mariachi beat before Ramos arrived to begin “Bolero Para ti Motherflower,” the defiant title track to Motherflower. Ramos’ voice soared and swirled, joined by her partner Fiol’s on the second verse, both women pulling every ounce of emotion out of the lyrics. Fiol picked up her vihuela and Ramos her violin for the cumbia “Bailando Penas,” driven by both the danceable rhythm and Seda’s melodic trumpet lines. On the ballad “Esta Ranchera,” which Ramos called their tribute to Patsy Cline, Fiol switched to flute, while she and her partner shifted from Spanish to English and back to enforce the emotion behind the heartbreak ballad. 

“This is another women empowerment song,” noted Ramos, before double violins from she and Rascon kicked off “Ruiseñor,” a tune from the band’s Las Caras Lindas album – and one that featured clogging, pizzicatto violin, and whistling during the breakdown. “This is the most personal song [on Motherflower], said Ramos in the lead up to “Brinda por Ella.” “You have to love yourself before you can love anyone else. It’s okay to take yourself out on a date once in a while!” That sentiment adorned a joyful 6/8 groove and sparkling violin from Ramos.  

The band then invited Grammy-winning producer and musician Adrian Quesada – “a legend here and around the world” – to join them onstage with his Telecaster. He gave a new texture to the gorgeous Motherflower ballad “Soledad,” a song written during the pandemic – appropriately enough – since the English translation is “Loneliness.” 

After Quesada left the stage, Ramos introduced the next song “Let Down” as a fusion of ranchera, blues, and R&B. A showcase for the golden-voiced Fiol, its writer, the tune was originally featured in the band’s Tiny Desk Concert, which helped introduce the quintet to the wider world. Ramos and Seda also engaged in some playful locking of horns with their violin and trumpet. The group then paid tribute to their style’s history with the “Huapango Medley,” starting with the Trini Lopez classic “Malagueña Salerosa,” and including mariachi standards “El Pastor” and “La Cigarra.” For the ranchera “Regresa Ya,” written by Ramos for a bandmate going through a breakup, the group asked for an assist from the enthusiastic audience. All five members gave a brief workshop in the art of the grito, those spontaneous cries that punctuate the emotional heft of a good mariachi ballad. The crowd was already primed for participation, inserting gritos into the luminous heartbreak ballad without prompting. 

After that exercise in tradition, the quintet jumped feet first into another arena, dazzling with a briskly performed medley of contemporary hard rock songs, incorporating riffs, melodies, and lyrics from Rage Against the Machine, Nirvana (both “Come As You Are” and “Smells Like Teen Spirit”), and Led Zeppelin. The temperature level was already spiked by that epic performance, so Flor kept it going with the cumbia “Dicen,” which got the audience dancing and singing along in call-and-response. The band closed the set with “Besos de Mezcal,” a tune that drew just as heavily on crowd participation, with the Austin crowd singing the chorus alongside Fiol and Ramos. The latter also led the audience in some enthusiastic cries of “Tikki-tikki-ta!” 

The theater went wild after the magical set, as well they should have. We’ve never had a show quite like this before, and we’re excited for everyone to see it when it airs this fall as part of our upcoming Season 49 of Austin City Limits on your local PBS station. 

Flor de Toloache tapes Austin City Limits, Aug. 29, 2023. Photos by Scott Newton.
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Taping recap: Molly Tuttle & Golden Highway

Molly Tuttle & Golden Highway perform on Austin City Limits, August 28, 2023. Photo by Scott Newton.

Singer, songwriter, and guitarist Molly Tuttle is the very picture of modern bluegrass. Mindful of tradition but not restricted by it, the California native and her band Golden Highway take the old school style and carry it into the twenty-first century, dominating the 2023 International Bluegrass Association Awards with an astounding seven nominations, and picking up a 2023 Grammy as well for Best Bluegrass Album. Her 2022 album Crooked Tree and brand new City of Gold have set a new standard for this distinctly American music, and we were excited for her and her remarkable band to bring it to the ACL stage. 

Before the show began, violinist Bronwyn Keith-Hynes, bassist Shelby Means, banjoist Kyle Tuttle (no relation), and mandolinist Dominick Leslie took the stage to the strains of the Beatles’ “Sergeant Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.” The quartet began “Evergreen, OK,” their fearless leader joining them before the first verse, as three part harmonies and tight riffing reconnected ACL to the bluegrass tradition. “This is something I’ve dreamed of for so long,” remarked Molly. “I’ve been watching this show since I was a little kid!” The band then launched into the brisk “El Dorado,” a song that shows off the guitarist’s lyrical skills as much as her, Leslie, and Keith-Hynes’ musicianship. Tuttle and the band veered from the highway into the honky-tonk for the cheeky “Side Saddle” and the waltzing road trip chronicle “Yosemite,” on which Molly and Kyle duetted. Leslie and Keith-Hynes (International Bluegrass Association Fiddler of the Year, as Molly pointed out) then faced each other at the front of the stage to kick off “Open Water,” the kind of bluegrass instrumental that sets fingers afire and leaves audiences exhausted on the players’ behalf. 

It’s not clear when the Grateful Dead became a source of bluegrass standards (probably after Jerry Garcia teamed up with progressive bluegrass mandolinist David Grisman and singer/songwriter Peter Rowan in Old and In the Way), but Tuttle knows how to pick ‘em, with a sweet cover of the Dead’s “Dire Wolf.” The tempo surged forward and the band segued directly into the original “Over the Line,” metaphorical guns a-blazin’. Kyle Tuttle then took the mic for a happy-go-lucky take on folk legend John Hartford’s “Up On the Hill Where They Do the Boogie” (which Hartford himself performed when he was on the show in Season 3). The banjoist applied wah-wah to his axe and Molly exhorted the audience to “get freaky on the dance floor.” The speedy “Down Home Dispensary” – “an open letter to Tennessee, and I think it might apply to Texas too,” said Molly – kept the cheeky vibe going – “there’s too much politickin’ and not enough tokin’.” The more even-tempoed “Dooley’s Farm,” on the other hand, explored territory similar to Steve Earle’s “Copperhead Road,” with a legacy of illegal activity. Both were tunes that reiterate that this ain’t your grandfather’s bluegrass. 

Golden Highway stuck to the minor keys for “Castilleja,” which didn’t hinder any of the fiery solos, and encouraged Keith-Hynes and Kyle Tuttle in particular to indulge a healthy jones for psychedelia. (No wonder the band has collaborated with fellow bluegrass ace Billy Strings.) “Next Rodeo” leaned more into traditionalism, spinning off the expression “this ain’t my first rodeo” for an assertion of confidence. Molly and the band cruised into the groovy shuffle “Where Did All the Wild Things Go,” recruiting the crowd for backing vocals and getting them into the spirit of rebellion that powers the song. Then it was time for “Crooked Tree,” one of Molly’s major anthems. After explaining how the song celebrates our differences and the uniqueness of everyone, the singer, who suffers from lifelong alopecia universalis, removed her wig for the performance. “I’m proud to be a crooked tree,” she sang, and there was little doubt from their adulation that the audience felt the same. 

Back down the Golden Highway they rambled, ripping through “San Joaquin” in a flurry of band introductions, fleet-fingered licks, and hyperactive rhythm. Means started a heavy groove as Kyle introduced Molly, who was busy switching guitars. She went all clawhammer on the new axe to sing “Take the Journey,” a tune from her 2019 album When You’re Ready that predated the arrival of Golden Highway. Not that it mattered, as the crowd clapped along and the entire band hit the lip of the stage to end the main set with a flourish. But Molly and her gang returned to do the encore old school – no amplification, one microphone, and the sweet love song “More Like a River.” They brought it home with Leslie’s frisky instrumental “Clam Tide.”

It was a dazzling show of twenty-first century bluegrass, full of fire and fun, and we can’t wait for you to see it when it airs this fall on your local PBS channel as part of our upcoming Season 49.

Molly Tuttle & Golden Highway perform on Austin City Limits, Aug. 2023. Photos by Scott Newton.
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Taping recap: Robert Glasper

Robert Glasper and his band perform on Austin City Limits, Aug. 24, 2023. Photo by Scott Newton.

Keyboardist Robert Glasper runs on parallel paths, one in which he’s one of the most celebrated jazz pianists of the last couple of decades, and the other in which he’s an award-winning R&B producer and bandleader. Combining his passions, his Black Radio series with the Robert Glasper Experiment racked up Grammys, and found the Houston native collaborating with singers and rappers from across the musical spectrum, from Lalah Hathaway and Yasiin Bey to H.E.R. and Meshell Ndegeocello. Supporting Black Radio III, Glasper and his three-piece band brought a trio of guest artists with them for his second appearance on the ACL stage, following his 2019 appearance as a member of August Greene. 

“Austin, what up?” Glasper announced when he took a place behind his instruments, his sunglasses reflecting his keyboards. “I used to watch this show when I was a kid, so it’s an honor to be here.” After introducing his bandmates – drummer Justin Tyson, bassist Burniss Travis, and DJ Jahi Sundance – the bandleader led the musicians into the atmospheric intro of “Find You,” an organic blend of R&B melodies, jazz harmonies, and shapeshifting polyrhythms from the Experiment album Artscience. “Your feelings cannot be trusted!” declared the samples from Sundance’s turntables. Neither could our ears, with Glasper dropping in verses from Phil Collins’ “In the Air Tonight,” Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit,” and Buddy Miles’ “Them Changes” over the groove. Glasper plucked another tune from Artscience with “No One Like You,” a lush meditation that gave the drummer some by putting the solo spotlight on Tyson before Glasper’s synthesizer solo got the tune’s pulse racing. Sundance flew in Erykah Badu’s vocal from “Afro Blue” as icing on the cake. 

“Me and my brother Derrick Hodge were fortunate enough to score this series Run the World,” explained Glasper. “It finally gave me a chance to work with this person I’ve been meaning to work with forever.” He then brought out singer/songwriter Emily King for the gorgeous ballad “What Love Can Do.” Glasper and King then revisited their Black Radio III collaboration, turning the free-flowing “Invitation” into audience participation during the breakdown. After King left the stage, Glasper noted that, while he came to Austin for jazz camp as a high schooler, he’s from Houston, and while he was in elementary school, he and some friends used to ride their bikes over to the next neighborhood outside of ZZ Top’s house, waiting for them to possibly appear. Cue Sundance bringing out a few bars of the Top’s “Sharp Dressed Man” – a running joke from then on. Apropos of nothing, really, but still a humorous breather before the next tune. 

For that, Glasper improvised a fleet-fingered piano intro that led into “Shine,” his collaboration with singer Tiffany Gouche – present as a sampled voice – and rapper D Smoke, who appeared in the flesh. Glasper explained how both the song and the album came to be during the pandemic, scoring a Grammy nomination for Best Engineered Album with music recorded in a homemade, self-built studio in his landlord’s old apartment behind his building. This led into praise for late producer/musician J Dilla, which in turn fed into the band performing a rewritten (on the fly?), energy-filled take on Dilla’s “Wild.” After Smoke quit the stage and the crew brought on a voice modulator, Glasper introduced “my sister” Yebba, who arrived to sing the smoky R&B song “Distance” from her debut album Dawn. Interpolating verses from Natalie Cole‘s “Everlasting Love,” her voice soared into the stratosphere on the wings of her self-manipulated electronic modulations. 

That, of course, meant it was time for Yebba’s contribution to Black Radio III. Conceived at a soundcheck, as Glasper explained, the majestic “Over” filled the room with funky grooves and barely-controlled vocal emotion – a feeling that was heightened by the reappearance of King and Smoke, who added harmonies and freestyle rapping, respectively. “Hoping that this love ain’t over” went from hook to mantra, ending the song to wild applause from the crowd. A soulful ending to a soulful show, and we can’t wait for you to see it when it airs as part of our upcoming Season 49 on your local PBS station. 

Robert Glasper, with special guests Emily King, D Smoke, and Yebba, perform on Austin City Limits, August 2023. Photos by Scott Newton.
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Taping recap: Sudan Archives

Sudan Archives tapes Austin City Limits, Aug. 10, 2023. Photo by Scott Newton.

Theatrical, experimental, and playfully authentic, electronic R&B violinist Sudan Archives delivers an excitingly dynamic performance at her debut Austin City Limits taping, presenting various hits from the breadth of her musical discography. Aside from bringing a new level of musical complexity to the current state of R&B, she showcases a world that mixes modern musical influences and traditional string playing. The experimental fiddler’s diverse musical background makes for a sound that nearly transcends genres, with tracks that involve elements of hip-hop, techno, Irish Celtic music, and soul, all deeply influenced by the South African Sudanese violin scene. The fiddler and her band – consisting of three Austin-based backup singers (Maya Sampleton,Grace Sorensen, Shelbi Alexandria), a bassist (Ghalani Crenshaw), and electronic violinist (DSharp) – bring an enthrallingly theatrical essence. The performance was presented for the live ACL audience and to fans around the world via live stream. 

Lyrically exploring themes of spirituality, self-identity, relationships, and femininity, the experimental artist reflects her ethereal nature via her wardrobe and set-up, a manifestation of her own enchanting world. Sudan wore a fairy-warrior type wardrobe–a plaid dress with metallic silver ballerina slippers and a leather sheath strapped across the back, where she holds her mighty bow. The violinist and crew play amongst a stage showered with rose petals and next to mic stands that seemingly grow out of the stage ground intertwined with vines and roses. Candles, and water-filled wine glasses are spread throughout the stage. The multi-talented violinist kicks off the second song of the show with “Nont for Sale” from her 2018 EP Sink. The track that serves as a testament to the musician’s thought provoking lyrical commentary intertwined with spirituality, as she sings “My strings propagate through space and time/Here and there at the same time/Hand dimensions and basic rhyme/You ain’t gotta be mad, look deeper, go higher, when you climb.” Her signature midi violin makes its first appearance, signaled by the swooping sound effect of a sword being removed from its sheath. A symbolic representation of her own musical armor, the importance of the instrument’s role in her discography becomes increasingly emphasized both musically and visually throughout the performance with several sound effects that represent the fiddle as a weapon. The violin plays the role of the leader, narrator, and protagonist of the song’s story. Sudan Archives echoes a desire to re-imagine and re-examine the traditional instrument’s role in popular music. 

Displaying the musician’s breadth of musical influence, track “Freakalizer” mixes the sound of the 90’s to early 2000’s R&B traditional beats with modern techno elements. Before beginning the performance, she conducts a certified “vibe check,” lighting sage with the comment “I gotta get the vibe right,” and moving into the intro of the song with a call to action: “Alright Austin, where my freaks at?” Removing her iconic leather sheath, she moves towards shifting the stage focus to the performance art components of her stage presence, incorporating grand intentional gestures towards cameras and audience members. Attesting to the musician’s theatrical, expressive, and authentically “in your face” musical presence, the violinist leaves the stage and moves casually through the crowd on the floor below. Connected by Sudan’s creation of a playful club-like atmosphere, the crowd seemingly transports to a night out at Club Sudan. Dancing with fans surrounded within a dance circle, Sudan Archives is the lively, fun, “feel good” girlfriend everyone wants to party with.

Showcasing the fiddler’s musical roots, influences, and well-rounded knowledge of the violin’s cultural presence and history, Sudan Archives performs a traditional Irish jig. Influenced by the likes of gospel, the Sudanese violin scene, and Celtic music, the musician calls out to the audience saying “Who in here is Irish? I love your culture. I joined the fiddle club and my life hasn’t been the same.” Gesturing that the crowd clap along, Sudan captures the role that culture plays in the artist’s unique sound by fusing a Celtic jig with hip-hop. This track showcases Sudan’s roots as a string player and the motivation behind her songs’ raw “fiddler” approach. Transitioning into one of artist’s biggest hits, as recently featured on The Stephen Colbert Show, track “Selfish Soul” demonstrates Sudan’s powerful commentary on femininity, the female appearance, and self-worth. She sings soulfully and moves intentionally up and down the stage, fist bumping backup singers and singing “If I cut my hair, hope I grow it long/Back long time like way before/If I wear it straight will they like me more?/Like those girls on front covers.” Ending the track with an explosive violin solo, the musician spins in circles in a rapidly moving pace as the crowd erupts into applause. 

Returning back to the stage to perform their encore, Sudan and band begin to play “Limitless”, a comforting and compelling song on society’s preoccupation with materialism and superficiality. The musician asks the audience to illuminate the theater with their iPhone lights as they sway to the track’s melody. The performer watches the crowd light up with a sea of swaying phone lights, singing “All we have is the internet/It’s okay to be afraid…All we have is the internet/We’re too cool to admit.” The soulful singer moves back into the crowd swaying with their movement and ending her performance by noting how the lights “looked like lightning bugs.” A cheerful end to a moving track, Sudan wraps up her ACL debut. 

As one of the most uniquely experimental performances to take the ACL stage, Sudan Archives delivers on the campy, “in your face” realness that radiates from her music and stage presence. From violin virtuoso to a feel good club jam, taking a visit to Sudan’s world is unapologetically thought-provoking and undeniably authentic. Presenting a complex musical sound elevated by the captivating components of her performance art, Sudan Archives leaves no room for predictability or conformity on her stage.

Sudan Archives on Austin City Limits, August 2023. Photos by Scott Newton.
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Taping recap: Jorge Drexler

Jorge Drexler performs on Austin City Limits, July 31, 2023. Photo by Scott Newton.

A giant in the world of Latin music, celebrated singer/songwriter Jorge Drexler arrived at Austin City Limits bearing his most successful album yet, the seven-time Latin Grammy winning Tinta y Tiempo. We’re always excited to showcase South American and Spanish sounds on our stage, and the Uruguayan-born/Spain-based Drexler did not disappoint, incorporating a pantheon of global sounds into not only his first taping but his first-ever show in Austin, one that we live streamed around the world to his legions of fans.

Following a pre-recorded intro from Drexler’s own cousin, whose thoughts inspired the award-winning Tinta y Tiempo, the charismatic, white-suited bandleader and his half-dozen strong band opened with the groovy pop number “El Plan Maestro,” also the opening cut on Tinta y Tiempo. Drexler followed up with the slinky “Deseo,” noting that he and the band had spent the previous evening learning to two-step at famed Austin honky-tonk the White Horse. The musicians got even friskier on “Transporte,” a song that surely fills up dancefloors everywhere. “I wish you all to be beginners,” Drexler remarked before the sleep? pop tune “Cinturón Blanco,” a nod to the white belt in martial arts – i.e. the beginner’s rank. 

The gregarious Drexler introduced “Universos Paralelos” to cheers, explaining its concept about expressing yourself in both conscious and subconscious ways. The foot mover also served to showcase his ace backup singers Alana Sinkëy and Miryam Latrece. “Telefonía” zeroed in on an even tighter pop melody while keeping the rhythm infectious. That led into one of the set’s tour de forces: the remarkable “¡Oh, Algoritmo!” Accompanied only by grooving guitarist Javier Calequi, Drexler both sang and rapped irony-saturated lyrics about the conflict between what we want and what we’re sold by algorithms and A.I. – joined by the eager audience. The maestro then introduced his band before letting drummer Borja Barrueta and percussionist Gala Celia preface the sparse, atmospheric “Tinta y Tiempo” with a percussion duet. With his band taking a break, Drexler performed the next song a capella. Of course, that song was the Oscar-winning song “Al Otro Lado Del Rio” from the film The Motorcycle Diaries  – a song he performed for the movie.. His improvised unaccompanied version as he accepted his award inspired the version he sang tonight, with the audience accompanying him on the soaring chorus. Donning his guitar but still onstage alone, Drexler played “La Milonga Del Moro Judio” – “The Milonga of the Jewish Moor” – a folkish nod to his own Arabic and Jewish heritage and a commentary on the continuing conflict in the Middle East that, like so many of his other tunes, found the crowd singing along. 

Following the basic sonics of “La Milonga,” Drexler vaulted into the twenty-first century, strumming his guitar with accompaniment from the band directly behind him on electronic beats and chords. Starting with the vocoder-enhanced “La Edad Del Cielo,” he went directly into the half-spoken/half sung “Guitarra y Vos,” yet another crowd singalong. The people joined the band in the rhythms, providing clapping percussion for the final electronic number, the sensual “Tocarte.” A distinctive and rewarding mini-set. 

As the musicians retook their normal instruments, Drexler told the story of his German-born Jewish father fleeing Germany in 1939 to Bolivia, the only country in the Americas that would issue him a visa. That led, of course, to “Bolivia,” a dub-frosted, minor-key groover that induced claps in the audience and a delighted grin on Drexler’s face. Noting that it had been “a beautiful night,” the songwriter ended the main set with “Sea,” one of his early-career tunes and, from the audience’s reaction, one of his most beloved. 

Of course, that wasn’t the end – Drexler had already told the crowd to call the band back for more music, and barely left the stage before coming right back on. He kicked off a three-song encore with the epic, energy-spewing medley of “Bailar En La Cueva” and “Moviemiento.” Drexler ended the night with the jaunty, irresistible “Todo Se Transforma,” transforming eighteenth century chemistry into a twenty-first century pop song. With big smiles, the musicians took a bow to huge cheers from the audience. Drexler gave us a history-making show that everyone can see this fall on your local PBS station as part of our Season 49.

Jorge Drexler and band on Austin City Limits, 2023. Photos by Scott Newton.

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Taping recap: Jenny Lewis

Jenny Lewis hits the ACL stage for the third time on July 26, 2023. Photo by Scott Newton.

Singer/songwriter Jenny Lewis returned to the ACL stage full of joy – more specifically, Joy’All, her acclaimed fifth album. With a pair of previous shows under her belt (with her solo band in Season 40 and her indie rock band Rilo Kiley in Season 31), she clearly felt at home on our stage, decking it out in shiny red streamers and red lighting. Dressed in Western shirts and boots and coming onstage to a cover of Elvis Presley’s “Don’t Be Cruel,” Lewis and her four-piece, all-women band treated the audience to a finely crafted, heartily performed set of smartly-written, rootsy pop rock. 

The last time Lewis was here, almost a decade ago, she was supporting her third album The Voyager. She kicked off her latest ACL appearance with a gem from that album: “Just One of the Guys,” a delightful pop rocker that warmed up the crowd nicely. She followed with the pedal steel-laced, playfully melodic shuffle “Do Si Do.” “What a joy to be back here,” she exclaimed. “What a treat!” The sturdy rocker “She’s Not Me,” on which Lewis ascended the circular platform stage in the middle of the main stage, seemed to be an audience fave as well.  “I want to clarify something about that song,” she said wryly. “She’s chill and I’m not!”

The band then banged out “Late Bloomer,” another melodic tour de force that achieved a certain Fleetwood Mac-like grandeur before drummer Megan Coleman and bassist Ryan Madora struck up an infectious groove for “Joy’All,” the irrepressible, irresistible title track of the new LP, with Lewis in constant motion on her mini-stage. Cranking back up, the band returned to straightahead rock for “Red Bull & Hennessey,” a love-to-loss number with epic solos from guitarist Nicole Lawrence. Augmented by keyboardist Jess Nolan on the organ, Lewis sat at her electric piano for the soulful “Heads Gonna Roll,” allowing the crowd to regain their energy while still appreciating the emotion behind the song. 

“Head Underwater” returned to the overtly frisky hooks and alluring tunes (as evidenced by the audience taking a verse), before Lewis and the band performed a pair of songs from the new album, injecting a healthy dose of country into “Apples and Oranges,” with Lawrence doing her best pedal steel imitation on her Telecaster (despite her actual steel guitar being right there). To the people’s delight, Coleman laid down another groovy beat for “Cherry Baby,” which added a melancholy feel to its loping guitar pop. Contrary to what one might expect from the title, “Little White Dove” was not a fragile ballad but a husky groove, with a stop-start rhythm supporting Lewis’ mysterious lyrics about mother and child. “Psychos,” too, belied its title with a lush melody and a steel guitar-frosted rock arrangement. 

As the next number began, the rotary phone atop Lewis’ piano rang. She answered and carried on a conversation with her dog, allegedly backstage, who demanded a joke. (“Why is it so hot at a Grateful Dead concert? Because their fans don’t work.”) That led to the sprightly new number “Puppy and a Truck,” dedicated to the pooch with whom she bonded during the pandemic. Following a directly rocking, melodica-spiced cover of indie rock band Girls’ “Lust For Life” (no relation to Iggy Pop’s classic of the same name), Lawrence returned to the pedal steel for “Essence of Life,” a glistening new ballad that really reinforced what a special songwriter Lewis is. 

As the set started winding to a close, the band rode Coleman’s pounding beat for “Love Feel,” a joyous rock tune that earned rapturous cheers from the crowd. “A little shout-out to John Prine there,” Lewis noted. “Here’s one from way back when.” Accompanied only by Lawrence and Madora, Lewis climbed atop her platform once again to deliver the final address: a lovely cover of her former band Rilo Kiley’s “With Arms Outstretched.” She held the second to last note long enough to drive the audience into a frenzy of love and appreciation. Lewis waved to the crowd and exited in triumph. It was a killer return for a killer artist, and it’ll make a marvelous episode that will air this fall on your local PBS station as part of our Season 49.

Jenny Lewis on Austin City Limits, 2023. Photo by Scott Newton.